Rita Ora Talks About New Music, Avicii, Taika Wait iti, Descendants, and the Fyre Festival Musical

It’s a been a minute — or six years — since we last caught up with Rita Ora and a lot has happened: she got married (to director Taika Waititi), she release an album (2023’s You & I), she’s hosted so many TV shows, and really gone deep with the acting (Qu een of Hearts in The Descendants, opposite Brandy no less). We talk about all this plus her early years from interning at a London record studio to getting signed by Jay Z and moving to NYC, not to mention her dance roots, this new era and — oh my god — collaborating with Taika on (amongst other projects) a musical inspired by the hilarious catastrophe that was Fyre Festival with music by, wait for it, Adele (and her longtime collaborator/songwriter Paul Epworth). And this is just the tip of the iceberg because the Kosovan-born, British-raised, 36-year-old, multi-hyphenate extraordinaire has experienced so much. And she’s got some tips for turkey roasting. So nice to have her back.